Bloody Italy: Essays on Crime Writing in Italian Settings

This book is a critical analysis of contemporary fiction and nonfiction set in Italy. All the works are available in English. The writers discussed range from Donna Leon and Michael Dibdin to Leonardo Sciascia and Andrea Camilleri.

Chapters also deal with nonfiction by Roberto Saviano and Douglas Preston. An emerging theme is the corruption of Italian police and judiciary officials and the frustration of officers and politicians trying to work ethically within a flawed system. Many of the works discussed show the struggle of the honest characters to find at least a limited justice for the victims.